A man named American Guy created a chatroom that reportedly exploits Korean girl groups, like TWICE. This incites fans to make the #ProtectTWICE trend on Twitter, demanding JYP Entertainment to protect the girls and take proper and legal action against the widespread hate against the girls.
American Guy is an IZ*ONE fan who is taking revenge on the band's haters by gathering them all in one chat group called Slave Chatroom. Here, Korean community site DCInside revealed the mysterious man proudly said he had "created a system" to enslave his idols' haters.
So, what this Slave Chatroom is all about and the threat that it entails toward TWICE?
The Slave Chatroom
This news's emergence becomes a cause of concern as the so-called Slave Chatroom is similar to the controversial Nth Room system--though the latter is more about sexual exploitation. According to Koreaboo, the American Guy will usually track down netizens who left malicious comments toward IZ*ONE.
From here, he will gather information about their private lives, like names, images, phone numbers, addresses, and more. He will then threaten them to leak these details if they don't join the chatroom.
If they don't join or leave the room, American Guy will leak their personal information online and turn them to the police for investigation. The Slave Chatroom has sub-chatrooms that have 10 to 12 members each.
These people are tasked to monitor different community sites to look for any negative comments toward IZ*ONE by working on shifts. They also have to look for more members, just like what the American Guy does. They now, reportedly, have 80 participants, including minors as young as elementary students.
The American Guy
Naver News noted the American Guy is famous among other K-fandoms for being a freak. He is said to be a 40-year-old wealthy guy who often posts and shows off IZ*ONE albums, merchandise, and concert ticket reservations.
He believes what he's doing is legal, insisting he has already completed the legal review. However, with his move, there are suspicions that he has been writing scandalous and sexual harassment posts against other Korean idols, like TWICE.
A lawyer named Jo Hee-Yeon even stressed that what he's doing is a crime of intimidation and coercion. He violates the Personal Information Protection Act for disseminating the poor victims' personal information.
What Does It Have To Do With TWICE?
A Twice fan using the Twitter name Light of Dawn exposed American Guy's deed through a series of screenshots of an alleged talk between another fan and an anonymous tipster, who held some information about the perpetrator. The snaps showed the man behind all of this and spread rumors about other girl groups, like TWICE and NiziU, per MEAWW.
So, TWICE fans are now using social media, utilizing the hashtag #ProtectTWICE to get JYP's attention to address the issue immediately. One fan said it had been over two years that thousands of people had been systematically harassing the girls, so it might have something to do with this American Guy.
The hate toward the girls seems to be a constant thing on different platforms. So, they are all demanding the company to protect TWICE. Anyhow, JYP has yet to release an official statement about the issue.
Do you believe that American Guy has something to do with the hate spreading toward TWICE? Share your comments below.
